Mathilda's Pokemon Journey
by Vixen-Von-Rouge
Summary: A whole new region, a whole new generation of Pokemon Trainers. This follows Mathilda's story as she ventures into the wide world of Pokemon.
1. Intro

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade, Pokemon or any of their characters.

Rating: K+ for minor violence without serious injury.

Summary: A whole new region, a whole new generation of Pokemon Trainers. This follows Mathilda's story as she ventures into the wide world of Pokemon.

* * *

"Hello. I'm Professor Judy Tate of the Tate Pokemon Research Centre based on Pierce Island and today's broadcast is aimed at those of you who are this year's lucky Pokemon journey beginners and will soon be receiving your licences."

The young pink-haired girl has her eyes glued to the television as the smartly dressed woman speaks.

"She's talking to me, Mom," she breathes, almost lost in a trance.

"As you are probably already aware, it is required that every new trainer is equipped with their very own starter Pokemon and personal ID both of these items will be received upon arrival at the Research Centre tomorrow at 10 a.m." the woman says.

The girl grabs her phone off of the coffee table from her position on the floor and hastily sets an alarm for 9 a.m.

"There will be a choice of three different beginners Pokemon," the Professor spoke as photographs of the three options appeared on the screen and pointed to each one in turn, "The first is Bulbasaur; a grass and poison type Pokemon. The second is Charmander; a fire type Pokemon. The third and last but certainly not the least is Squirtle; a water type Pokemon. I advise new trainers to think carefully about their decision and consider what Pokemon would suit them the best."

The girl leans forward and studies the photographs with acute fascination. She knows which one is meant for her.

"Mathilda, if you get any closer to the television your eyes are going to go square."

"Mom, I'm not four. I know that's just a myth," Mathilda says, rolling her eyes.

"That concludes our broadcast for today and I look forward to meeting Pierce Island's brand-new Pokemon trainers! Goodnight!"

The image of Professor Tate disappears from the screen as the ten o'clock news begins.

"It's time for bed," Mathilda's Mom orders.

"What? But I'm not tired! How can I sleep when the most important day of my life is less than 24-hours away?" Mathilda exclaims.

"That should be a good enough reason to get some sleep; you'll need your strength. Now go upstairs, please," her Mom says.

"Fine," Mathilda sighs, getting up and making her way up the stairs.

Mathilda lies awake in her bed, staring at the ceiling.

"_I'm too excited to sleep," _She thinks, turning her head to look at the many posters stuck to her wall, barely visible in the glow of the moon seeping through a gap in the curtains. Some are pictures of people she has admired her entire life; the worldwide sensation and Pokemon League official spokesman, Ash Ketchum and the well-known Pokemon Researcher, Gary Oak, _"I'll be just like you some day."_

Mathilda smiles to herself as her eyelids start to become heavy and she drifts into a dreamless slumber.

XXXXXXXXXX

At 9 a.m. Mathilda is woken up by the sound of her alarm. She blindly reaches for her phone and switches it off. Continuing to keep her eyes shut, she sits up in her bed and pushes back the mess of tangled hair from her face. Moments later a loud knock on her bedroom door startles her.

"Time to wake up, sleeping beauty! Breakfast will be ready in a minute!" her Mom calls.

"I'm up, I'm up," she groans, rubbing her eyes.

The distinct smell and sound of sizzling bacon reaches Mathilda's nose as she makes her way down the stairs. As she gets closer to the kitchen, the scent of coffee and freshly toasted bread is added to the mix. She peers around the doorframe.

"Wow. You've really gone all out, Mom."

"Well, I thought since I won't be seeing you for a while and you'll be living off of your own terrible cooking it's only appropriate that I make you a really special breakfast before you go."

"Thanks, it's nice to know you have faith in your daughter's ability to keep herself well-fed on her travels."

"You're welcome dear."

Mathilda smiles and shakes her head as she takes a seat at the kitchen table. She loved her Mom to pieces but she really didn't understand sarcasm.

"There you go," she beams, putting a full plate of fried eggs on toast, bacon, sautéed mushrooms and grilled tomatoes in front of her.

"This'll keep me going for days!" Mathilda laughs as she tucks into the feast before her.

XXXXXXXXXX

Forty-five minutes later, Mathilda is ready and packed. She hugs her Mom goodbye and heads down to the Tate Pokemon Research Centre on the edge of town.

"Have a great time, honey! I'll miss you! Don't forget to call me whenever you can!"

"Don't worry, Mom. I promise I will at every opportunity!"

By the time she reaches the front doors of the Research Centre there is already another person waiting outside. He is a tall, muscular boy with silver hair that's tied up into a ponytail.

"Hey, Mathilda!" he smiles, spotting her as she approaches.

"Hi, Rick," Mathilda says.

"How's it going? Are you excited?"

"Oh, you bet! Have you decided what Pokemon you want yet?"

"Yep and it's going to be the best of all three!"

"A Pokemon is only as good as its trainer, Rick. You'll have to work super hard if you ever want to beat me."

"Is that so? What Pokemon are you choosing then?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out."

There are very few children their age on Pierce Island so, living in the same town, Rick and Mathilda have grown up together and are like brother and sister.

"Well, well, well, it looks like you two actually made it!" a smug voice spoke out from behind them.

A tall, skinny boy with blonde curly hair and striking blue eyes walks up to them.

"What are you talking about, Enrique? We got here before you did," Rick scowls.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Enrique says, "All I'm saying is that I don't know why you bothered showing up. I mean, we all know that I'm destined to become a Pokemon Master so you should really just give up now."

"Hey, you take that back!" Rick yells.

"Why don't you make me?" Enrique smirks, relishing in his ability to aggravate the silver-haired boy.

"Will you please stop fighting?" Mathilda pleads, "Professor Tate might not give us our Pokemon if she sees you like this."

Rick huffs and folds his arms.

"She would never deny me a Pokemon," Enrique says, looking towards Mathilda, "I have too much potential. She would have handed one of them over to me by now if they hadn't brought in that stupid law about having to be sixteen to receive your licence these days."

"It's for our own safety. The world is a lot more dangerous than it was when trainers like Ash Ketchum were just starting," she states.

"Ash Ketchum? He's old news, Mathilda," he scoffs.

"Actually, I beg to differ. He's an excellent role model for young trainers," the voice of Professor Tate drifts into the conversation. All three of the trainers turn to face her and she smiles at them before speaking again, "Please, come in. The time has come for you to begin your journey."


	2. Chapter 1

"Wow," Mathilda breathes quietly to herself, looking around in awe.

"This is quite a place you've got here, Professor," Rick says from behind Mathilda, equally as impressed.

"Why thank you, Rick," Professor Tate replies, coming to a standstill in the middle of the room.

The four of them are surrounded by state of the art scientific equipment; a large computer with numerous buttons and switches that are flashing different colours stands against the wall behind the Professor, to their left are worktops upon which are microscopes placed next to neat boxes of glass slides and test tubes containing different substances, to their right is a mass of book cases that are completely filled with scientific journals and a staircase that leads up to the second floor of the building.

In a corner of the room a young man is peering into a microscope, one eye closed in concentration as he scrutinizes whatever specimen he is looking at and occasionally moving away to write notes on a clipboard he is carrying.

"This is Wyatt, my personal assistant," the Professor says, indicating towards him, "He helps me with my research."

At the mention of his name, the young man turns his attention away from the microscope, puts down his clipboard and walks over to where the others are standing. He is tall and slim with dark brown hair and eyes to match.

"You must be the new trainers," he smiles, "It's nice to meet you all."

"Wyatt never got a chance to meet last year's beginners," Professor Tate explains, "He only started working here a few months ago. Before that he was working with Professor York on Trygator Island."

"That's all the way on the other side of the Bey Region!" Rick gasps.

Mathilda slaps her hand over her mouth in shock. Even Enrique looks surprised.

"You travelled all that way just to come to our Island?" she asks, "Did you see lots of different Pokemon on your way?"

"I most certainly did, young lady" Wyatt answers.

"What did you see?" she says, her eyes glittering with curiosity and enthusiasm.

Wyatt laughs, "Too many to name every single one of them, but I do remember seeing a huge flock of Pelipper fly overhead when I was on the ferry crossing over to the Mainland and there was herd of Ponyta running across the Fuerza Plains whilst I was on the train."

"Did you see any really rare Pokemon?" Rick asks.

"Unfortunately, my answer to that is no," he sighs.

Rick looks slightly disappointed but the sparkle in Mathilda's eyes doesn't fade.

"_I'm so jealous," _she thinks, _"I wish I could see a heard of Ponyta or a flock of Pelipper. Maybe I will eventually, once I start my travels."_

"Right, everyone, shall we all head upstairs?" Professor Tate says, "I think it's time to get you all set up before you go."

Following the Professor's lead, all five of them make their way up the stairs onto the second floor where there is a basic seating area with two, three-seated sofas and a coffee table between them.

On the table there is a briefcase.

"Please, sit down, you three," she says, indicating to one of the sofas.

They each take a seat; Mathilda in the middle with Rick to her right and Enrique to her left. Wyatt and the Professor sit themselves on the opposite side to them. Carefully, Wyatt pulls the briefcase towards him, unfastens the clips and lifts the lid. Then, slowly, he turns it around so that the contents are facing the three teenagers.

"These are the essential tools that all new trainers need," Professor Tate says, looking at her assistant and nodding.

Wyatt nods in response and takes out a flat, red, rectangle-shaped device; about the size of a mobile phone but as he opens it, it looks more like a miniature laptop, "This is a Pokedex. It will act as your personal ID and gives you access to pretty much all the Pokemon information you will need."

"What do you mean by 'pretty much'," Enrique asks.

"Well, there are still Pokemon out there that haven't yet been discovered, so if you come across one that hasn't been identified then your Pokedex won't be able to provide you with any information on it. The same goes for Pokemon that haven't been studied much; you won't be given an awful lot of information on them but for the most part it will be extremely helpful."

"Awesome! I'm gunna look up all the Pokemon and find out where I can catch them! That way I can collect them all and become the ultimate trainer!"

"Careful now, let's not be too hasty. The Pokedex only releases information about a Pokemon once you physically come across it so that it can record the data of where, when and how you found it."

"Well, that's just stupid. What use it that?" Enrique scoffs, folding his arms in disappointment.

"The Pokedex isn't just designed to help the trainer," Professor Tate adds, "It also acts as a research device for us."

"How does that work?" Mathilda asks.

"What we would like you all to do for us is regularly check in your Pokedex so that we can look at your progress; you can normally do this at Pokemon Centres," she explains, " If it's possible, we'd prefer if we were able to gather information from you each time you reach a new town or city. That way it makes it easier for us to keep track of the routes you've been taking. Can you do this for us?"

"Sure!" Rick and Mathilda say in unison.

"Of course," Enrique smiles, "I have no doubt my natural instincts will lead me to the places where the most rare and powerful Pokemon can be found so don't sweat it, you'll get plenty of research material from me."

Wyatt raises and eyebrow at Enrique. He gives each of the trainers a Pokedex. Mathilda rubs her thumbs over the smooth case and smiles to herself. Finally, she has her own Pokedex.

"The rest of your equipment is standard for any travelling Pokemon trainer, " Wyatt says, "You each get five Pokeballs to start you off; remember that you can only carry six Pokemon on your person at a time and any others that you catch will automatically be transferred to our labs Pokemon storage facility. Don't worry too much about that though, we will take good care of them and you can always swap your Pokemon over if you need to. You also get a map of the entire Bey Region; this only includes labels for major landmarks like large towns and cities; the forests, mountains and deserts are clearly marked too but there is plenty more that you will discover on your own. Lastly, you each have a ferry ticket; this will cover your fares for the boat you'll be taking to the mainland where your real journey begins."

He hands out these items before shutting the briefcase.

"Great! Thank you, Wyatt," Professor Tate beams, "Now it's time for the part that you've all been waiting for!"

"We get our first Pokemon?" Mathilda squeals.

"That's right," the Professor smiles, "Follow me, please."

All four of them stand up and pursue the Professor's direction. She comes to a stop in front of a small and circular, waist-height podium situated a short way from the seating area. On the top of this podium is a red, velvet cushion with three identical Pokeballs placed comfortably on top. The three trainers gather around, their eyes glued to the capsules that hold inside them their very first Pokemon that they can call their own.

"Ladies first," Professor Tate says, gesturing towards Mathilda.

Snapping out of her daydream, Mathilda looks up at the Professor and her assistant who are both looking at her expectantly.

"Oh, right, that's me," She laughs nervously.

Stepping closer to the podium she studies the Pokeballs as if one of them will give her some sort of indication as to what's inside. She thinks for a moment; she knows what one she wants; she has gone over the decision time after time in her head; she's sure that this is the right decision for her and now, coming face to face with the real thing, she is having no doubts.

"I choose…," she pauses for a moment and takes a breath, "Squirtle!"

Professor Tate grins at her, "Excellent choice, Mathilda!"

Wyatt picks up one of the three Pokeballs and hands it to Mathilda, "Here's your Squirtle, take good care of him."

"Oh, don't worry! I will! I promise!" she exclaims, clutching the Pokeball to her chest.

"_Wow! WOW! This is amazing!"_ she thinks joyfully to herself, _"Finally, after years of waiting for this day, I have my Pokemon!"_

"You can let him out if you want to," the Professor tells her.

Mathilda's eyes widen and she nods furiously before sitting down, cross-legged on the cold, tiled floor. Then, she holds the Pokeball out in her hand.

"Come out, Squirtle," she says, softly.

In response to her request, the Pokeball opens. A red beam of light emerges and it slowly forms a shape. As the glow fades, standing before her on two short legs is a light blue, turtle-like creature looking up at her with big, brown eyes. Small, stubby arms and a curled tail protrude from a tough shell protecting the rest of its body.

"Squirtle Squirt-!"

"He's even more adorable than I ever thought possible!" Mathilda exclaims, bringing her face closer to the little, blue Pokemon.

Squirtle tilts his head up to his new trainer and creates a tiny bubble with its mouth which pops on the end of Mathilda's nose causing her to giggle.

Suddenly, another Pokemon appears next to her. This one resembles a red lizard walking on two legs with a small flame on the end of its tail.

"Char-!"

"It's a Charmander!" she gasps, "That's so cute!"

"He may be cute but once I start to train him, he'll be tough as nails," Rick says proudly, "You're looking at your new rival, Mathilda."

Mathilda laughs as she pets Charmander on the head, "I'd say he quite likes me actually."

"I'd say that you should both look at your_ true_ rival," Enrique calls over to them, holding out his own Pokeball as the same red light appears and forms a shape before Mathilda and Rick. When the glow disappears, they are presented with a four-legged, bluish-green Pokemon with what looks like a plant bulb on its back.

"Bulba-! Bulbasaur!"

"Sorry," Rick smirks, "But I don't class a grass-type Pokemon to be a rival. But thanks for the offer."

Enrique's eyes narrow at Rick, "It's all in the training, Rick. As I've said before, with my potential I'll be able to train Bulbasaur so well that it won't matter what type it goes up against. Besides, what I said was aimed more at Mathilda seeing as water-type Pokemon have a weakness against grass-type."

"You sure talk a lot for someone who can't prove anything yet," Mathilda frowns, "You sound like you're going to work that poor Pokemon to exhaustion."

Mathilda reaches out to pet Bulbasaur on the head but before she gets close enough, it produces a vine from the side of its bulb and smacks her hand away with it.

"Ouch! That hurt!"

Reacting to his trainer's distress, Squirtle jumps in front of Mathilda, preparing itself to defend her.

"Oh dear, stop that you two!" Professor Tate interrupts.

Both Pokemon look up to her and back away from each other.

"Sorry about that," Wyatt says, "Bulbasaur and Squirtle have never really got along with each other."

"Why?" Rick asks.

"We're not too sure," he answers, "I guess their personalities clash."

"Ha, that suits me just fine," Enrique chuckles.

"Yeah well, your Pokemon is a bully, just like you!" Mathilda growls as she picks herself up off of the floor.

"Please, kids, let's not fight," Wyatt pleads.

Enrique huffs and turns away from Mathilda who in response sticks her tongue out at him. Her Squirtle mimics her actions, making her laugh.

"I think it's about time we made our way to the boatyard," the Professor says, looking at her wristwatch, "We don't want to keep the ferry waiting for too long."

Gathering up their belongings, the three trainers return their Pokemon to their Pokeballs and leave the laboratory with Wyatt and Professor Tate. As they walk, the Professor informs them of the steps they must take once they have left Pierce Island.

"When you reach the mainland you will be greeted by my husband, Taro. He runs the PokeMart in Seaborg Town," she tells them, "He'll give you some valuable information that will be useful to you in the long-run and then he'll start you off in the right direction. From then on you're on your own for the most part but don't hesitate to call me or ask me questions when you check in if you need to know something and I'll do my best to help you."

As the group approach the Pierce Island boatyard, a figure can be spotted waving in the distance.

"Who's that?" Rick says.

Mathilda uses her hand to shield her eyes from the sun and squints. She concentrates for a moment before gasping, "It's my mum!"

She races ahead of the others and grabs hold of her mum in a tight embrace.

"Mathilda!" her mum exclaims.

"Mum! What are you doing here? I thought you were at work today," Mathilda cries.

"Well, I did go into work but my boss told me that I shouldn't be in when my only daughter is about to brave the big, wide world on her own. Besides, you forgot your sleeping bag."

"Oh! I can't believe I forgot about that!"

"To be honest, I knew you were bound to forget something. You always do."

"I guess I had my mind on other things."

"What's up, Mrs Alster!" Rick smiles as he approaches.

"Hello, Rick. Wow, either you're getting taller or I'm shrinking," she laughs, "So what Pokemon did you both choose?"

"I got myself a Charmander!" Rick beams.

"I chose Squirtle," Mathilda grins.

"I had a feeling you would make that decision," Mathilda's mum says, "You've always had a fascination with that Pokemon ever since you were young and insisted on watching the beginners broadcast every year just to point out which one you were going to have as your own one day. And here you are, with your own Squirtle!"

"Come on, you Slowpokes! I want to get to the mainland so I can start catching some Pokemon and I don't want to wait around! You're wasting my precious time!" Enrique shouts from the ferry.

"You better go, sweetheart."

"I'll miss you, Mum," Mathilda says, hugging her again.

"I'll miss you too. Take care," her mum replies, hugging her back.

As the ferry slowly pulls out of the boatyard, Mathilda and Rick wave to Professor Tate, Wyatt and Mathilda's mum who are waving back at them.

"Goodbye!" they both call, watching as they get smaller and smaller until they are just tiny specs in the distance.

"I'm going to make her proud, Rick," Mathilda says, smiling up at her best friend, "We both will."


End file.
